Clearing-house machine.



No. 824,920. PATENTED JULY 3, 1906. J. H. ERIGKSON.- CLEARING HOUSEMACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEU.19, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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No. 824,920. PATBNTED JULY 3 1966.

J. H. ERIGKSON. CLEARING HOUSE MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED 11110.19, 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1906.

Application filed December 19, 1905. Serial No. 292,603.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH H. EmoKsoN', a citizen of the United States,residin in the city and county of San Francisco an State of California,have invented new and useful Improvements in Clearing-House Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus which is designed for therapid-disposal of checks and the like in the transactions ofclearing-houses.

It consists in the combination of mechanism and in details ofconstruction which will be more fully explained by reference to theaccompanying drawin s, in which Figure 1 is aside e evation. Fig. 2 is aplan view. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section. Fi 4 is a planview of the suctionshoe, partial y broken away. Fig. 5 is a bottom viewofsame. Fig. 6 is a section on line B B of Fig. 4.

It is the object of m apparatus to provide a mechanism by w ich thelarge numbers of checks which are handled throu h clearin -houses may berapidly and correctly marke and disposed of. I

In the mechanical construction as here shown A is a hollow base having api e connection 2 with any suitably-dispose vacuum-producing apparatus.Such an apparatus may be in the form of a pump, as shown at 3, and thepiston reciprocating within the pump may be connected by rods 4 with aneccentric or crank 5 on the main shaft, whereby the constant movement ofthe pump when the apparatus is in use will create a vacuum within thechamber A. Motion may be communicated to the moving parts by anysuitable motor, as at 6.

In the upper part of the apparatus is a receptacle 7 of sufiicientlength and width to contain checks of all the sizes which it may beneeded to handle. These checks are laid in as smoothly as possible upona rigid movable bottom 8. This bottom is normally lifted by the actionof weights, as at 9, cords 10 passing over pulleys, as at 11, attheopposite sides of the chambers 7 and connecting with the bottom 8.Pressureisapplied upon the checks to keep them smoot and'by -means ofrollers or other pressure attachments, as at 13, which limit the upwardmovement of the checks, holding them in one position, and they ressureof the late8 keeps them sufficient y smooth for rther operation. Thisoperation consists in drawin one check at a time from the top of thepifie and delivering it between rollers 14 and 15, the roller 15carrying a stamp 16, which impresses the clearing-house mark and dateupon each check as it is passed between the rollers. In the present caseI have shown' the upper roller 14 as having the central portion shghtlyless in diameter than the end portions, and the end portions contactwith corresponding end portions of the roller 15, thus bringingsufiicient pressure upon the edges of each check or paper to insure itsbeing passed between the rollers and the stamp 16. Its curved facehaving such a radius from the center it will impress each check againstthe central portion of the roller 14 as itpasses, thus making the reuired im rint. After passing between the r0 one the c ecks may bedelivered in their order into a chute, as at 17, and passed down into areceiver beneath, as at 18, or they may be 0 disposed of. It will beunderstood t at the stamp 16 will be ke t in constant condition for useby means 0 inking-rollers, as at 19, disposed in any suitable orwell-known manner.

In order to lift and deliver the checks from the chamber 7 to passbetween the rollers 14 15, the rollers 13 are so located as to allow theends of the checks to be exposed.

20 is a suction shoe or foot connected by a flexible pipe 21 and othersuitable conductors, as at 22, with the vacuum-chamber A, previouslydescribed. The flexible tube 21 allows for a suflicient reciprocatingmovement of the shoe or foot, as will be herein erwise after described.This part 20 has openings made in the bottom, as at 23 .These maypreferably be made, as shown in Fig. 5, wit a sufficient number ofintervening bars or surfaces to prevent the ,thin paper of the.

check being sucked u into the shoe, and the o enings may be ma e of suchsize that when t e device is placed upon the check the suction will beSll'iIlClGIlt to cause the check to adhere while the device is beingadvanced to ull the check from beneath the rollers 13..

be a forward movement of the device 20. The device has arms or guides,as at 25, which enter curved slots 26 in plates upon either side of itsline of travel.

26 re resents arms on the part 20, which arms ri ing on'the raised edges26 act to lift the front end of 20, with its adherent check, at thebeginningof its forward move ment.

The ends of. the arms 25 projectthrough the slots 26 to be connectedWith fulcrumed arms 27. The fulcrum of these arms is below the crank oreccentric-rod 4, and the upper end connecting with the arms 25 it willbe is seen that the reciprocation of the connectingrods 4 will cause thearms 27 to move and carry with them the device 20. The curvature of theguide-slots 26 is upon the same radius as that of the arm 27. The firstforward movement of the part will raise it and the front end of thecheck which is adherent to it, and it will-be advanced with the endofthe check projecting, as. shown, suflici ently so that when the devicehas reached the end of the slot 26 the end of the check will haveentered between the rollers 14 15. At this instant the valve 24 isshifted so as to close the suction-port and to bring another port 28 tocoincide with an open port in the top of the device 20, thus allowingthe pressure to be equalized within-the part 20 and the check to bereleased just at the instant when the rollers take hold of it, and itwill then be free to pass between the rollers and receive its stamp. Thereturn reciprocation of the connecting-rod 4 acts through the arm 27 toreturn the device to its position and depress it again upon the surfaceof the pile of checks. The operation will then be continued, the checksbeing constantly lifted and held with a light pressure against therollers 13 and being at the same time sufficiently yielding to be drawnout one by one by this apparatus.

The movement of the valve 24 may be effected in any desired manner. Ihave here shown a method in which projections 30 extend from the top ofthe valve through slots or channels in the top of the shoe 20, and thesepro'ections contact with suitable stops 31 at eac end of the travel ofthe shoe, and thus act to shift the valve. As the valve I slidesair-tight against the to of the case, it will be understood that the sots will not be ex osed so as to cause leakage through them. 55 y theuse of the chute 17 or an equivalent device the checks or other papersare placed in the receiver 18 in the same relative position as when inthe receiver 7, and their consecutivemembers are maintained in the proer order.

aving thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Pat.- ent, is 1. In an-apparatus forthe transfer of checks, 65 acontaining-chamber,means for maintaining the upper surface of the checksat a substan tially constant level, a shoe, connections between the shoeand means for producing a. vacuum, a valve slidablelongitudinally-having two ports one of which is adapted to alternatelyconnect its interior with the vacuum device, and to close thevacuum'device, and the other is adapted to open a port leading to theatmosphere when said vacuum device is closed, means by which the shoe'is first 7 5 placed upon the top of a check and the vacuum produced andsubsequently moved to withdraw the check from its position, said valvehaving a projecting member, and a stop fixed in the path of travel ofthe shoe and adapted to be engaged by said projecting member atsubstantially the end of the travel of the shoe whereby the valve isshifted to cut off the vacuum and release the check.

2. In an apparatus for transferrin checks, 8 5 a containing-chamber, anupward -acting pressure-plate upon which the checks are laid Within thechamber, uide-rollers in the upper' part against which t e upper checkcontacts and by which a constant level is maintained with the ends ofthe check. projecting beyond one of the guide-rollers, a hollow shoehaving a flexible connection with a vacuum-producing device, means bywhich the shoe is pressed upon the surface of the upper check andsubsequently raised and moved forward, connection between the shoe andthe vacuumproducing device, a valve within the shoe havmg ports, meansby which one of said ports is brought to coincide with the vacuum-tubetoo when the shoe rests upon the surface of the check, and means bywhich the valve is shifted to close the vacuum connection and open theshoe to the atmos here at the endof the forward travel of the s ccwhereby the check I0 5 is released. 7

3. In an apparatus for transferring and stamping checks, a chamberadapted to receive and contain checks, means by which the upper surfaceof the checks is maintained I Ic at a constant level, a shoe having aflexible connection between itself and the vacuumproducing device, meanswhereby the shoe-is pressed upon the uppermost check, and a vacuumroduced to cause the check to adhere to t e. shoe, means by which theshoe is moved forward-to withdraw the check from its position, said lastmeans includinga fulcrumed reciprocating lever, connections between saidlever and the shoe, and connections between the lever and thevacuum-producing device, rollers between which the end of the check ispresented and an impression-stamp carried by one of the rollers.

4. An apparatus for stamping checks, 8, chamber within which the checksare placed,

a vertically-movable bottom to said chamber and means by which it israised, rollers forming a guide to maintain the surface of the papers ata constant level, a shoe and flexible 1 0 connections between it and avacuum-producin device, a valve and operating means where y the interiorof the shoe is alternatel connected with the vacuum device and Wit theopen air, means for raising and reciprocating the shoe, said meansconsisting of a fulcrumed reciprocating lever, connections between saidlever and the shoe and guides between 'which the shoe is movable.

5. In an apparatus for transferring papers, a containing-chamber for thepapers, a vertically-movable platform upon WhlOh the pile of papersrests, pressure devices against which the upper paper of the pile ispressed whereby the upward movement of the papers is limited, avacuum-shoe, means for alternately ap plying it to the topmost pa er andremoving said paper, and means by w ich the front end of the shoe islifted at the instant of its first forward movement said last meansincluding substantially a cam-track and a member on the shoe traversablethereon.

6. In an apparatus for transferring checks, a containing-compartment,means for maintainin the upper surface of the checks at a norma level, avacuum-shoe, means by which it is depressed upon the exposed end of acheck, a valve in said shoe, means by which the valve is moved and aninternal vacuum produced when the shoe rests upon the check,

means including substantially a cam track and a member on the shoetraversable thereon by which the forward end of the shoe is tiltedupward, and moved forward wlth the adherin check, impression-rollersbetween which the end of the check is placed, and a chute and receiverby which the relative position of the checks is maintained.

7. In an apparatus for transferring and stamping checks a unitary casinghaving two chambers one serving as an initial container for checks, andthe other a receiver for stamped checks, a'vacuum-producing mechanismand a transferring-shoe connected therewith, impression-rollers andmeans by which the shoe is reciprocated to deliver the checkssuccessively from the container to the rollers, and a conducting-chuteinto which the checks are delivered from the rollers back into thecasing and into the receiving-chamber thereof and by which they aresuccessively placed in their ori inal order.

In testimony w ereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH H. ERICKSON Witnesses:

S. H. NOURSE, J. MEININGER.

